Originally Posted by Tanker-driver
I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how the whole process of going from a regional to an affiliated major (Horizon/Alaska for example) works. Does a company like Alaska give preferance to Horizon pilots when granting interviews? Does any seniority transfer across when one makes that jump?
As a rule, no. American Eagle used to have a flow through agreement with AA and ExpressJet used to have one with Continental but those are pretty much things of the past. Now, most regionals and affiliated majors have the same relationship as a retailer and a supplier. So no, your seniority will more than likely not transfer over to a major. (sidenote: anyone know of any major/regionals that still have active flow through agreements?) Now wether or not they give preferential treatment, I could not tell you. I have heard that CAL likes to hire XJT guys because we know the system and how CAL does things and it might be the same at AA/Eagle and Alaska/Horizon. But that has no basis in fact, just crew room scuttlebutt.